Doctors Find Encephalitis In 6th Case, Urge Caution

October 18, 1997|By Laurin Sellers of The Sentinel Staff

A sixth Florida resident has tested positive for St. Louis encephalitis, health officials said Friday.

The 65-year-old Belle Glade man, whose identity was not released, went to a doctor complaining of a severe headache, fever and mosquito bites, said Dr. Savita Kumar of the Palm Beach County Health Department.

''He started feeling ill on about Oct. 8 or 10,'' Kumar said. The man, who had been exposed nightly to mosquitoes, is improving.

A 68-year-old Tampa area man is thought to be the only fatality from the mosquito-borne disease this year. Four others - a 71-year-old Lee County woman, an 82-year-old Brevard County man, and two Polk County women, one in her 30s and the other 82 - also have been infected.

State and local disease experts said Friday they are encouraged by the small number of cases but warned that the risks remain.

''I'm very pleased we're not getting the number of cases we had during the 1990 outbreak,'' said Bill Toth of the Orange County Health Department. By the end of 1990, 223 people had been infected with St. Louis encephalitis and 11 had died.

Steven Wiersma, a deputy state epidemiologist, agreed that this year's count is encouraging.

''But we can't let down our guard,'' Wiersma warned.

Wiersma also noted that all six people infected so far this year had failed to take precautions, such as using insect repellent and wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts outdoors at night.